Acetylene-gas generator.



No. 803,999. PATENTED NUV. '7, 1905.

J. W. fATsfroNE. ACETYLBNB GAS GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21,1904.

Wi neses' #ffii/erde?? @gaf-m @Y ww' -MM UNITED STATES yPATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. FEATHERSTONE, OF BARKER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ALFRED FEATHERSTONE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AoETYLENE-GAS GENERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 7', 1905.

Application filed November 21, 1904. Serial No. 233 ,550.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES W. FEATHER- s'roNE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Barker, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Acetylene- Gas Generators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This application relates to acetylene-gas generators of the same general character as are described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 773,860, granted to me, dated November l, 1904. These generators are provided with a plurality of compartments for the carbid, and the water is fed to the cornpartments in succession, whereby the several compartments of carbid are consumed in succession and the carbid in any one compartment remains dry until all of the carbid in the compartment next preceding has been used up. In these generators, as has already been set forth in the Letters Patent referred to, it is customary to provide a sectional pail or carbid-container, the sections forming in the container the several compartments referred to for the carbid.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of such generators.

In the drawings, in which the invention is illustrated, it is shown to be embodied in a convenient and practical form, and Figure l is a View in central vertical section of such generator.. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively a plan View and a view in perspective of the top carbid-container. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a plan View and view in perspective of a modiiication of the carbid-container.

Within the outer or containing shell ft, which is preferably cylindrical, is a similarlyshaped wall Z), which forms, with the outer shell a, an annular space for the hood or gasometer c, a water dam or seal being provided in said space, as clearly indicated in Fig. l of the drawings, to prevent the escape of gas around the lower edge of the hood. Within the inner wall b are the carbid pails or containers CZ, of which any number may be protops of the sections, whereby when water is fed into the first section it will consume all of the carbid therein and then rise to the top of the section, whence it will pass through the openings f into the next section. The carbid will then be consumed in the next section, and the water will rise therein and flow through the openings into the third section, and so on until all of the carbid in the pail has been consumed.

Water may be supplied to the generator through a pipe r, which may enter through the top of the hood and may be arranged to discharge into the first compartment in the topmost container, and it will be understood 'thatthe pressure or head of water must be suflicient to overcome the pressure of the gas which exists within the generator. When the carbid in the topmost pail has been consumed, the water will rise in said pail until it reaches the top of a vertically-disposed tube t, with which each of the carbid-pails, except the last one, is provided and which is preferably, although not necessarily, located within the last compartment and the top of which is above the level of the sections, although not quite flush with the tops of the containers themselves. In each container this tube la, extends through the bottom, and the containers are arranged with respect to each other, so that the tube /L in any container will discharge into the first compartment of the container next below.

In order that the containers may be quickly and conveniently placed within the generator, so that they will occupy the proper relation with respect to each other, either the containers or the cylindrical member 7) is provided with a rib 2f, which' fits a corresponding groove it' in the other. In the present case the containers are shown to be provided with a groove and the cylindrical member 6 with a rib. rIhe containers also are preferably numbered, so that by this means their position in the'generator with respect to each other is completely determined.

In Figs. 4 and' a modification of the carbid pail orcontainer is illustrated. In such modilication the tube /t is centrally placed and may be provided with means such as are shown in Letters PatentNo. 672,227, dated IOO ceive water from a source of supply, discharge the same into the first compartment, receive water from the last compartment, and deliver it into the central tube of the container next below. This form of container is not claimed herein, and it need not be more specifically described. It may be used, however, in connection with the present invention, in which case the water from the supply-pipe g would be delivered into the central tube Zt instead of into the first compartment.

After all the carbid in the last carbid-pail is consumed the water will rise therein until it reaches the top of the container. Communicating with this container near the top in any suitable manner is a pipe Z, which also communicates with the exterior of the shell. When the water therefore has risen in the last container to the point where it communi- Cates with the pipe Z, it will flow down through this pipe and out of the container. In order to seal this pipe from the atmosphere, so that the gas during the operation of the generator will not discharge therefrom, a water dam or seal m may be provided on the exterior of the shell a, into which the pipe Z discharges.

The operation of the improvedgenerator will be readily understood from the foregoing. As soon as the carbid in any one compartment is consumed the water will rise in that compartment and iow into the next compartment,

' as already described, and when one entire pail sys of carbid has been consumed the water will rise in that pail and flow down through the tube ZL into the first compartment of the next pail. When all of the carbid in the generator has been used, the Water will iill the last pail and run out the pipe Z, thus indicating clearly on the outside of the generator that the carbid within the generator has been used up. It

will be understood that some device of this sort is a practical necessity in acetylene generators, inasmuch as it would be very dangerous to open up a generator, particularly at night in the presence of a lamp, unless some positive device were provided to indicate that the carbid has been entirely consumed and that the generation of gas has therefore ceased.

It will be obvious that many changes may be made in the construction of the container without departing from the spirit of the invention, and accordingly the invention is not limited to the precise form here shown and described.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a carbid-container supported within the outershell, means to supply water to the container, means to discharge the gas, and an overflow-pipe communicating With the container near the top thereof, said overiiow-pipe leading downward and extending through the exterior of the shell.

2. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a carbid-container supported Within the outer shell, means to su pply water to the container, means to discharge the gas, an overflow-pipe communicating with the container near the top thereof, said overiow-pipe leading downward and extending through the exterior of the shell, and means for preventing the escape of gas through the plpe..

3. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a carbid-container supported within the outer shell, means to supply water to the container, means to discharge the gas, an overflow-pipe communicating with the container near the top thereof, the said overflow-pipe leading downward and extending through the exterior of the shell, and a water-dam for the pipe.

4;. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an vouter shell, a carbid-container supported within the outer shell, means to supply water to the container, means to discharge the gas, a chamber on the exterior of the shell, and a pipe leading downward from the container to said chamber.

5. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell., a carbid-container supported within the outer shell, means to supply water to the container, means to discharge the gas, and means for receiving the overflowwater from the container directly and for conveying it directly to the exterior of the shell without contaminating the space between the container and the outer shell.

6. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a plurality of carbid-containers, means to supply water to the first container and to each of the other containers through the one preceding, and means for receiving the overflow water directly from the last container and for conveying it directly to the exterior of the shell without contaminating the space between the container and the outer shell.

7. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a plurality of carbid-containers, means to supply water to the first container and to each of the other containers through the one preceding, and an overflow-pipe communicating with the last container near the top thereof, said overflowpipe leading downward and extending through the exterior of the shell.

8. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a plurality of carbid-containers, means to supply water to the first container and to each of the other containers through the one preceding, an overflow-pipe communicating with the container near the top thereof, said overow-pipe leading downward and extending through the exterior of the shell, a hood, means forming a water seal therefor, and means forming a water dam for the pipe. Y

9. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a plurality of car- IOO IIO

` bidi-containers, means to supply water to the the shell, and means for preventing the escape ot'- gas from the overflow-pipe.

l0. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a plurality of sectional carbid-containers each having means of communication between the adjacent sections except between the rst and last sections, and a tube connecting each container except the last container with the first section of the next container, and an overflow-pipe communicating with the last container near the top thereof, said overflow-pipe leading downward and extending through the exterior of the shell.

11. In an acetylene-gas generator, the combination of an outer shell, a plurality of sectional carbid-containers each having means of communication between the adjacent sections except between the first and last sections, and a tube connecting the last section of each container .except the last container with the first section of the next container, and an overflow-pipe communicating with the last container near the top thereof, said overiiow-pipe leading downward and extending through the exterior of the shell.

This specication signed and witnessed this 12th day of November, A. D. 1904.

. JAMES W. FEATHERSTONE.

Witnesses:

ALFRED W. KIDDLE, ANTHONY N. J ESBERA. 

